Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Matt Mitrione has been suspended by the promotion as a result of an interview in which he called a transgender fighter “a lying, sociopathic, disgusting freak.”

Mitrione appeared Monday on The MMA Hour, the popular weekly Internet program, when he began offering unsolicited comments on Fallon Fox, a transgender fighter with a 2-0 record in minor-league promotions who recently admitted to being born a man.

In the interview with MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani, Mitrione segued to Fox when he talked about recently watching the Oscar-winning thriller The Silence of the Lambs, and compared Fox to ‘Buffalo Bill,’ the story’s cross-dressing serial killer. Mitrione then said that after watching video of a Fox fight, he hadn’t seen “a man beat a woman like that since Chris Brown beat Rihanna.”

WATCH THE VIDEO (starts around 17:30)

Mitrione, who referred to Fox as a ‘he’ or ‘him’ numerous times, said Fox “had a gender change, not a sex change … Six years of taking performance dehancing drugs, you think’s going to change all that? That’s ridiculous.

“That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that, because you lied on your license to beat up women. That’s disgusting. You should be embarrassed for yourself.”

The 37-year-old Fox, whose story was first told by Sports Illustrated’s Loretta Hunt and OutSports’ Cyd Ziegler last month, underwent gender reassignment surgery and other treatments in 2006. Fox, who competes in the 145-pound featherweight division, is next scheduled to fight April 20 in Florida but her license is under investigation by the state’s regulatory body.

[He] had a gender change, not a sex change … Six years of taking performance dehancing drugs, you think’s going to change all that? That’s ridiculous

According to Sports Illustrated, Fox stated on her Florida application that she “held an MMA combatant’s license issued in 2013 by the California State Athletic Commission. However, CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster confirmed that Fox’s application for licensure was still under review, though the fighter and her manager, Brett Atchley, believed she had received notice of her licensure in the mail in late February. Licensure secured in other jurisdictions – particularly in a key state like California – can weigh heavily on a regulatory body’s review of a new applicant’s information.”

According to SI, Fox also admits she did not disclose to the Florida commission her transgender history because she was not asked to.

Competing as a woman, Fox is within the rules of organizations such as the International Olympic Committee, which allows postoperative transsexuals to compete as their new gender. According to IOC policy, adapted in 2004, there are three main requirements for transgender athletes: they must have undergone gender reassignment surgery, they have legal recognition of their assigned gender and they have had at least two years of hormone therapy.

Mitrione criticized athletic commissions that would license Fox, knowing she is a transgender, calling it “an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that.

“The woman that’s fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope that he gets blackballed and never fights again, because that’s disgusting and I’m appalled by that.”

Mitrione, who 48 hours earlier knocked out Phil De Fries on the UFC on FUEL TV card from Stockholm, Sweden, then told an obviously-uncomfortable Helwani that he was glad he “could make fun of (Fox) a little bit because he’s obviously got some mental issues and wants to beat up on women.”

What was the point in doing that interview? What was the upside in that interview? There was none. No upside

Fox on Tuesday released a two-sentence statement to MMAFighting.com in response to Mitrione’s comments.

“Matt Mitrione went well beyond disagreeing with the medical experts who say I should be able to compete as a woman, and personally attacked me as a fighter, as a woman, and as a human being,” she said, according to MMAFighting.com.

“His comments do not reflect the spirit of our sport, where most competitors uphold values like respect and dignity.”

In response to the interview, UFC issued a release, saying the company “was appalled by the transphobic comments” and found Mitrione’s comments “offensive and wholly unacceptable.”

Mitrione’s contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated, UFC said.

“The UFC is a friend and ally of the LGBT community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect,” the company stated.

UFC president Dana White on Tuesday said Mitrione’s comments were “a pain in the ass … It ended up being a nightmare for him. What was the point of that interview? There was no point in it. Now it’s caused him a bunch of headache and problems, caused us a bunch of headache and problems for no reason whatsoever,” he said during a media conference call.

“He had just fought. He wouldn’t fight again for another few months. He’s still over there enjoying himself in Sweden. What was the point in doing that interview? What was the upside in that interview? There was none. No upside.”